CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TYPICAL STUDENT METH USER

In early 2007, PRIDE Surveys compiled data gathered during a national
school survey among students from grades 6 thru 12. The following is a
synopsis of the information gathered from 3,000 self-admitted meth
users:

The "typical" user is a 17-year-old white male, who lives with both
parents, under-performs in the classroom, does not view meth as a drug
harmful to his health. He most likely began using meth during his 12th
year. His parents are likely high school grads, many with some
advanced education or degrees and holding full-time employment.

Some of the more disturbing results have the students stating that
meth is "very easy" to purchase. In addition, nearly a third of their
parents would not find it wrong if they used marijuana or other
illegal drugs.

Three-fourths of the respondents admitted to having friends who smoke
pot on a regular basis.

In all of the 101,141 received student responses, more than 3 percent
admitted to using meth at least once within the past year while 2
percent reported using it monthly.

Unfortunately, young meth users constitute a hard-core group of drug
abusers. In addition to frequent use of marijuana, many of these
students also use alcohol and tobacco.

The percentage in usage of other substances among non-Meth users is
substantially less.

To gain more information on the student meth user, log on to:
http://www.methpedia.org/TheSchool-AgeMethUser.htm

Meth prevention campaign

A new Anti-Meth Prevention media campaign has been initiated through
the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. While research shows that
nationwide meth use has decreased among teenagers, young adults
between the ages of 18 and 25 continue to use the drug and there are
approximately 200,000 of them.

The new campaign is constructed to educate the public and make them
aware of the dangers of meth and at the same time emphasize that
communities and individuals can recover from excessive use. The
campaign also focuses on the availability of treatment for meth users
as well as the importance of community involvement.

Another powerful element to the campaign is the use of a photo exhibit
titled "Life After Meth" and features an array of testimonials and
portraits of former meth users, law enforcement personnel and
treatment providers. These documentaries are available to be
downloaded as posters from www.methresources.gov.

All campaign materials are available for review at the campaign's Web
site.

This information was provided courtesy of CADCA Coalitions Online.